With two teachers as parents, I have always had a strong interest in teaching. I worked as a tutor during high school, as a French language instructor and camp counsellor during university, and as a test preparation instructor between university and graduate school. My first opportunity to teach university students came during my PhD at Harvard University, when I became a Teaching Fellow alongside my research work. I spent three semesters as a Teaching Fellow, a role that involved developing and running a weekly discussion section, writing and marking homework assignments and exams, and providing feedback and suggested changes to the lead instructor. In my final semester as a Teaching Fellow, I was awarded a Certificate of Distinction in Teaching for Graduate Students.
In late 2012, I moved to UOW to take up a research-only position as a Vice Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellow. I was reluctant to give up teaching completely during this period, and so offered to take over a three-week module in the interdisciplinary subject MARE200, Introduction to Oceanography, which I re-designed and taught from 2014-2016. In 2016, I began a continuing teaching and research position in the School of Earth & Environmental Sciences (now School of Earth, Atmospheric, and Life Sciences). In this role, I designed, coordinate, and teach the first-year core subject EESC102, Earth’s Interconnected Spheres. Since 2018, I have also contributed to teaching and development for EESC331, Changing Global Environments, and coordinate the earth and environmental science honours program.